Does God Hate Sin yet Love the Sinner?

Richard Hollerman

How often we have heard this statement and most of us seem to agree with it. We say that God hates sin—and this is true. And we also say that God loves the sinner, the one who sins—and this also is true. But is it really used in a right way? Is this really accurate? Is there anything here that is amiss? The renowned Mahama Gandhi said this: hate the sin but love the sinner Is this true–or a wicked lie?

First, we know that God hates sin. It is antithetical to all that He stands for and we must also abhor it! Since God teaches against that which violates His will and since we must do the same, we must also turn from all unrighteousness if we love God.

Secondly, we know that God loves the sinner! God is love (1 John 4:8, 16) and He demonstrated this love through Christ Jesus in the favorite verse of Scripture to many (John 3:16). Thus, we know that God loves people who sin. He has loved the sinner in the past and continues to do so in the present.

But is the statement true? Is it something that we are to accept as right in itself and consider valid? Does God hate sin but love the sinner? It surely sounds righteous and good—that the Lord hates that which violates His will and He also loves the person who perpetrates this. But just as popular sayings are often wrong and even perverted, we need to ask about this one too.

If God says one thing and does this, surely He would want us to do likewise. And if He hates the evil that we might do and believe since it violates His holy character and will, is it too much to say what we are saying above is true? Maybe God does love the sinner but hates what the sinner does?

Scripture says, “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day” (Psalm 7:11).  God has “fury” and “anger” against the unrighteous (Psalm 90:11). God’s Word says that He loves righteousness and hates lawlessness (Hebrews 1:9). In other words, He draws near to those who would do right and practice holiness but he is appalled by those who would reject this and believe and practice wrong. He loves truth and opposes error. He loves holiness and rejects the unholy.

I think that this is accurate and most or all of our readers would say the same. After all, God does hate what Hitler did (kill 11 million people) but he surely must have “loved” (in a sense) Hitler, for He knew better than we do that Hitler, unless he repented, would go to hell.

We know that many religious liberals would emphasize love for others while having a tolerant view of Sin. For instance, we read:

It is psychologically easier to justify our prejudices and the inequalities in society rather than to face those problems head-on.

What seems to be going on here is that saying one “loves the sinner but hates the sin” enables some people to maintain their negative attitudes without feeling like a prejudiced person. But overcoming prejudice cannot come about simply by using nicer language to cover up the prejudice. Rather than “love the sinner, hate the sin,” maybe we should go back to “love” and start from there. (https://www.psychologytoday.com)

We must remember that “modernists” in the 1800s and even the 1900s emphasized love and thought that all were “lovable” but they also refused to “hate” evil!

(We might add, most Germans—nearly all of them—would be ones whom God would love but hate what they do and believe. Those alive would do the same, although Germans generally would not believe in God at all or are members of false churches. Of course, not only did Hitler kill himself and his consort but some nine millions of others!)

We know and Scripture also says that God is a God of love, but He also is a God of holiness, truth, and purity. He loves the sinner but He does this with the intention that this would woo them to Him, that they might repent, and that they might turn from their sin and find His forgiveness—and be holy and good and truthful as He is.

Does this describe you? Do you also love truth and holiness and abhor that which is opposed to God and His ways? This is the only way that we can be like God! And if God is of a certain character, we must also be of this same character. Thus, the popular saying is true—and false. It is true inasmuch as we are to love the sinner but it is also His will that we are to love God and His truth and will. We are to hate what He hates and do right at all times. Nothing else will do!